RFK Cuisine · Sushi · Denver
Best Sushi Restaurants in Denver 2026
Sushi & omakase · Denver · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
In 1984, two brothers from Japan opened a sushi bar on a quiet stretch of South Pearl Street and began flying fish straight from a market in Kyushu — decades before that was normal anywhere in America, let alone a mile above sea level. Sushi Den made Denver an unlikely sushi city, and forty years on its founder has just won the city its first Michelin star for sushi, at a tiny new counter a block away. Landlocked and high and dry, Denver has no business being this good at raw fish, and yet the supply lines, the chefs and the South Pearl cluster make it genuinely serious. Ranked on the fish, the room and what the bill buys, with what to order at each.
1.Kizaki
Toshi Kizaki's new omakase counter, the only Michelin-starred sushi in Colorado; book the small bar well ahead for the city's best nigiri.
Kizaki is the capstone of a forty-year career. Toshi Kizaki, who opened Sushi Den with his brother Yasu in 1984, built this intimate Edomae omakase counter inside Denchu, a building he designed himself a block from the original, and opened in 2025. It promptly won a Michelin star in the Colorado guide and a spot on Esquire's Best New Restaurants list — the only starred sushi room in the state. The format is a chef-paced nigiri tasting at a small counter, built on the same direct-from-Japan fish that made the Kizaki name, treated Edomae-style with curing, aging and warm shari. It is the most serious sushi seat in the Mountain West. Book as far ahead as the calendar allows, take a counter seat, and put yourself entirely in the chef's hands. The starred high point.
Reserve well ahead, counter only; the chef's Edomae omakase, the aged tuna, the seasonal nigiri.
2.Sushi Den
The room that made Denver a sushi city, still flying fish daily from Japan; book ahead for the reference nigiri and the buzz.
Sushi Den, on South Pearl Street since 1984, is the restaurant that built Denver's sushi reputation and still sets the standard for the city. The Kizaki brothers were pioneers of importing fish directly from Japan, partnering with the Nagahama market in Kyushu, and that line still lands fish daily at the Den. It is a buzzy, full-service room — a long sushi bar, a strong cooked menu, a packed dining room — rather than a hushed counter, which makes it the everyday-special choice and the one to bring a group to. The nigiri off the bar is the reason to come; the cooked dishes and the energy are why locals never stopped. Book a few days ahead, sit at the bar if you want the best fish, and ask what flew in that day. The Denver reference.
Reserve a few days ahead, sit at the bar; the day's special nigiri, the toro, the Den's hot dishes.
3.Matsuhisa Denver
Nobu Matsuhisa's Cherry Creek room with the dishes that changed Japanese dining; book it for the classics and a scene.
Matsuhisa, in Cherry Creek, is Nobu Matsuhisa's Denver restaurant, and it brings his global Japanese-Peruvian playbook to the city's most upscale shopping district. The signatures are all here — yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño, black cod marinated in miso, tiradito and rock-shrimp tempura — alongside a full sushi bar drawing on Nobu's worldwide sourcing. It is more scene and more à la carte than the South Pearl counters, and it skews to the see-and-be-seen crowd, but the cooking that made Matsuhisa famous holds up. Prices run high. Book a few days ahead, sit at the sushi bar for nigiri, and order the black cod and the yellowtail-jalapeño no matter what else you get. The marquee-name pick.
Reserve a few days ahead; the yellowtail with jalapeño, the miso black cod, the sushi-bar selection.
4.Uchi Denver
Tyson Cole's award-winning Austin import in RiNo; book it for inventive cool-and-hot tastings as much as straight nigiri.
Uchi, in the RiNo arts district, is the Denver outpost of the James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole's Austin original, and it is the city's most inventive Japanese room. The menu runs well beyond nigiri into Cole's signature cool and hot tastings — the machi cure of smoked yellowtail with yucca crisp and Marcona almond, brûléed escolar, creative makimono — alongside a proper sushi selection. The room is dark, design-forward and loud in the good way, and the happy-hour "sake social" is one of the best deals in town. It is the choice when you want creativity and a scene over purist tradition. Book a few days ahead, order across the tastings, and don't skip the machi cure. The inventive pick.
Reserve a few days ahead; the machi cure, the hot and cool tastings, a few pieces of nigiri.
5.Sushi Sasa
Wayne Conwell's LoHi room with a chef's omakase and house-fermented touches; book it for serious sushi without the South Pearl crowds.
Sushi Sasa, in the Lower Highlands, is the quiet connoisseur's pick — a minimalist room where chef Wayne Conwell turns out a strong omakase studded with house-fermented bites that bridge tradition and experimentation. It does not have Sushi Den's history or Kizaki's star, but it draws a loyal local following for clean, well-sourced nigiri and a chef who is genuinely engaged with the counter. It is calmer and easier to book than the Pearl Street rooms, which is part of the appeal. Reserve a few days ahead, take the omakase if you want the kitchen at full stretch, and sit at the bar. The under-the-radar serious pick.
Reserve a few days ahead; the chef's omakase, the nigiri selection, the house-fermented bites.
6.Ototo
The Den family's relaxed seafood sibling on Pearl; book it for excellent fish in a livelier, more shareable room.
Ototo, on South Pearl Street, is the younger sibling of Sushi Den and the adjacent Izakaya Den, and it completes the "Den Corner" that anchors Denver sushi. After a three-year, pandemic-era pause it reopened in spring 2023, and it shares the family's daily Japanese fish supply while running a livelier, more shareable menu — sushi and sashimi alongside inventive seafood plates and a good drinks list. It is the most relaxed and wallet-friendly of the serious rooms, the one to choose for a casual sushi night that still uses first-rate fish. Book a few days ahead, sit where you can see the bar, and mix nigiri with the seafood plates. The easygoing Pearl Street pick.
Reserve a few days ahead; the nigiri and sashimi, the seafood small plates, a sake or cocktail.
How Denver eats sushi
Denver's sushi story is really one family's story. The Kizaki brothers opened Sushi Den on South Pearl Street in 1984 and were among the first chefs in the United States to fly fish directly from Japan, building a relationship with the Nagahama market in Kyushu that still supplies the block today. Four decades later that block — "Den Corner," with Sushi Den, Izakaya Den and Ototo — is the city's sushi heart, and Toshi Kizaki's Michelin-starred Kizaki, opened a block away in 2025, is the summit. Around them, Matsuhisa in Cherry Creek, Uchi in RiNo and Sushi Sasa in LoHi give the city real range, from global-brand classics to inventive tastings.
A few practical notes. For the best fish at the full-service rooms, sit at the sushi bar and ask what came in that day; for the chef-paced experience, book the counter at Kizaki or take the omakase at Sushi Sasa. Reserve a few days ahead for most rooms and as far out as you can for Kizaki's small counter. Denver dines casually — smart-casual works everywhere here. For the rest of the city's tables — its steakhouses, tasting menus and Mexican kitchens — the Denver dining guide maps it by neighborhood and occasion.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for serious Denver sushi
The all-you-can-eat and happy-hour roll houses. The AYCE rooms and discount-roll spots around the metro trade on volume, not fish quality. For the real thing, head to Sushi Den on South Pearl or book the counter at Kizaki.
Kizaki when you want a casual, group-friendly, order-as-you-go night. It is a small, paced, chef's-counter omakase built for one undivided experience. When you want a livelier table and shared plates, point yourself at Sushi Den's main room or its sibling Ototo a few doors down instead.
Frequently asked
What is the best sushi restaurant in Denver?
Kizaki, the Edomae omakase counter that Toshi Kizaki opened on South Pearl Street in 2025, is the city's new high point — it earned a Michelin star in the Colorado guide and a place on Esquire's Best New Restaurants list in its first year. Its parent, Sushi Den, has been Denver's reference sushi room since 1984 and still flies fish daily from a market in Japan. Choose Kizaki for the chef-paced omakase and Sushi Den for the room that built the city's sushi reputation.
Does Denver have Michelin-starred sushi?
Yes — Kizaki, Toshi Kizaki's omakase counter on South Pearl Street, holds a Michelin star in the Colorado guide, awarded in 2025. It is the only starred sushi room in the city. The wider scene around it is deep: Sushi Den, its decades-old sister restaurant, anchors the same block, and Matsuhisa, Uchi, Sushi Sasa and Ototo round out a stronger sushi city than its altitude would suggest. Book Kizaki well ahead, as the counter is small.
How does Denver get fresh sushi-grade fish?
Through long-standing import relationships, mostly. Sushi Den's founders, the Kizaki brothers, were among the first US chefs to fly fish directly from Japan, partnering with the Nagahama market in Kyushu, and that supply line still feeds Sushi Den, Kizaki and Ototo on South Pearl. Matsuhisa draws on Nobu's global sourcing network, and the other top rooms import daily as well. A mile above sea level and far from the coast, Denver's best sushi is as fresh as the airport schedule allows — which is to say, very.
How much does omakase cost in Denver?
Kizaki's Edomae omakase is the city's high end, a multi-course chef's-counter tasting at a price in line with starred sushi rooms elsewhere. Sushi Den, Matsuhisa, Uchi and Sushi Sasa run roughly $60 to $130 a head depending on whether you order à la carte or take an omakase or tasting, with premium fish and sake climbing higher. Ototo is the most relaxed and wallet-friendly of the group. Reserve ahead and the counter, not a table, for the omakase experience.
Where is the best sushi neighborhood in Denver?
South Pearl Street in Platt Park, known to locals as 'Den Corner,' is the heart of Denver sushi. Sushi Den opened there in 1984, its sister Izakaya Den and the seafood-focused Ototo sit alongside it, and Toshi Kizaki's Michelin-starred Kizaki opened a block away in 2025. It is the densest and best sushi cluster in the city. Beyond Pearl, Cherry Creek has Matsuhisa, RiNo has Uchi and LoHi has Sushi Sasa.
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